Meat sold before store closed is safe

County and state officials remove rotten product from Carpenter Meats.

County and state officials remove rotten product from Carpenter Meats.

March 11, 2006|SUE LOWE Tribune Staff Writer

OSCEOLA -- County and state officials removed a couple of coolers of rotten, smelly meat from the Carpenter Meats business on Lincoln Way West on Thursday. But there is no danger to the public, according to Rita Hooton, food services supervisor with the St. Joseph County Health Department. She said any meat obtained from the store before it was closed Feb. 16 that has been frozen is safe to eat. The rotten meat removed from the building had been there since the business was closed three weeks ago, some of it in coolers that apparently had malfunctioned. "It stunk and we needed to get it out of there," said a tired-sounding Hooton on Friday. She said the county health department actually closed the business because its permit had expired. The department also was investigating whether owners of the business were doing some catering without a food service permit from the county, she said. Dr. Paul Dieterlen, from the Indiana State Board of Animal Health, said his department was investigating whether Carpenter Meats was processing meat in a safe way. The business needed a permit from the state because meat was being processed there and sold wholesale to restaurants. The county health department was involved because food was being sold at a retail level. When the business was closed, the state sealed one cooler that contained about 3,000 pounds of meat. Hooton said the county put forms indicating the meat was not to be sold on two other coolers and three freezers. Dieterlen's inspectors expected to hear from business owner Stan Gill within a couple of days after the business was closed. Dieterlen said that if the state seals a cooler of meat, normally the business owner will call to say the business has documents or an expert to help prove it was operating in a safe way. But neither the state nor the county heard from Gill. "It was very frustrating for us," Dieterlen said. Hooton said she and state officials were to meet Gill at the business earlier this week. He didn't show up, but they could smell rotten meat from outside the facility. So Hooton obtained a court order and a locksmith. She, a state inspector, a number of people from her department and a crew borrowed from the county highway department met Thursday to brave the smell. Hooton said they used heavy equipment to move the meat to a 20-yard Dumpster, which they filled. They then poured bleach over it, and the trash company from which the Dumpster had been rented took it to a landfill. "I've never seen anything like this before," Hooton said. She said the meat in the freezers was still frozen but that pieces of the animals left over from processing also had been put in the freezers. Those barrels of leftovers had been outside, and their presence meant the other meat had to be considered contaminated. Hooton said Gill could reopen the business by applying for a new permit. His state permit was never actually revoked. Gill could not be reached for comment Friday. Staff writer Sue Lowe: slowe@sbtinfo.com (574) 235-6557